Nargles
by ze Brando
Summary: Updated July 8. Harry develops a crush on Luna, but every time he tries to tell her something goes wrong. Now Hermione and Ginny are trying to help him. Meanwhile Ron finds a real life Nargle and someone at Hogwarts is a spy for Voldie! HPLL RWHG
1. Deck The Halls

**Nargles**

**By Brando**

**  
Dedicated to Katie**

**Rated**: PG-13 for some violence and mild language.

**Summary**: Harry develops a crush on Luna, but every time he tries to tell her something goes wrong. Now Hermione and Ginny are trying to help him. Meanwhile Ron finds a real life Nargle and someone at Hogwarts is a spy for Voldie! HP/LL RW/HG

**Disclaimer**: Now if I owned Harry Potter I'd be rich. Vis-à-vis, I wouldn't be here. I'd be sailing in my yacht while listening to Jimmy Buffett tunes on the radio.   
  
Since I'm not doing that, it's safe to assume I do not own Harry Potter.

**----**

"Right. So then Professor McGonnigal put me –"

"Us, Ronald." Hermione corrected.

"- in charge of decorating the castle for Christmas. So prefects, fall into line and get ready."

As with every new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there was a Holiday on the horizon. Always did something come up that would cause for a festive cheer and an excuse to throw a noisy party in the common room. Halloween was great because of the feast; and Easter Holidays were very helpful to catch up with Snape's essays before finals. Though Halloween was only an extra dinner, and Easter was always filled with homework. Therefore the students of Hogwarts always took great pride in the Christmas Holiday since it was their one true break. Every year the Head Boy and Girl would oversea the decorating of the castle; or they'd assign those duties to another pair of prefects.  
  
This year; the sixth year since Harry Potter arrived at Hogwarts, the Head Boy and Girl had given the job of being in charge of decorations to Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Now the entire group of Sixth and Fifth year perfects (plus a few others who volunteered to help) were gathered in the Great Hall. They were using the tables normally reserved for the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses. The entire group could have fit on one table; but Draco Malfoy, the prefect for Slytherin, claimed that if he sat on the Gryffindor table he would become deadly ill.

"Now I figure we can all tackle this room first, since it's so bloody big." Ron explained as he strolled around proudly. Most of the time he neglected his prefect duties, however when it came to bossing people around (especially Malfoy and his mates) he found he enjoyed being a prefect much more than normally. Hermione seemed annoyed at Ron's military like mood.

Harry sat on the edge of the Gryffindor table. To his right was the new fifth year perfects Jack Sloper and Ginny Weasley. Jack looked a bit afraid of Ron; but Ginny was rolling her eyes to his every word. Occasionally as Ron would fall off into melodramatics Ginny would catch Harry's eye and they'd both have to bite their tongues to keep from snickering. On Harry's left were Luna Lovegood and a boy he didn't know who had been elected the new Ravenclaw prefects. Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil; the Ravenclaw sixth year prefects as well as Hanna Abbot and Ernie; their Hufflepuff equivalents, were next on the row. Neville Longbottom; who, like Harry was volunteering to help, and a few people he didn't recognize were at the end. Across from them at the Slytherin table were a very bored Draco Malfoy and his usual gang of Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. Theodore Knott and Blaise Zabini had also shown up and sat at the end with looks of dreaded boredom also apparent on their faces.

"So then everyone find something and decorate with it then." Ron wrapped up his little speech. As soon as he did Malfoy sat up and opened his mouth; and as soon as _he _did that Harry prepared for trouble. Truth-be-told Harry would love to test some new jinxes on Malfoy if given an excuse.

"You seem to know a lot about decorating Weasley." Draco said knowingly. "And here I thought your family was too poor to afford such things."

"Shut up Malfoy."

"Leave Ron alone."

"At least our dad isn't in jail."

"Snuff yourself."

Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry had all replied to Draco in a second and the Slytherin seemed alive with an icy rage. However he had developed some intellect because he knew he was out numbered (since the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws would all obviously back the Weasley clan) and he sat back and shut up with a foul look on his face. Harry slinked back down into his own seat and sat backwards. It took him a moment to notice Luna Lovegood beside him, who was shaking as if she was afraid.

"Hey, are you okay?" Harry asked, eyeing the blonde-haired girl with a peculiar glance. Then again peculiar didn't even scratch the surface of the cobalt-eyed, butterbeer-bottle-cap-necklace-wearing, giant-lion-hat-creating girl beside him. Then again Harry usually gave her the benefit of the doubt since he knew (from much experience) that not all people called "crazy" are odd at all. She turned to him with her protuberant blue eyes and shook her head from side to side.

"No, no Harry I'm not. We're all in danger. I've been telling Ronald all morning but he refuses to believe me."

At the word "danger", Harry's neck hairs began to stand up. His hand was mechanically gripped around the handle of his wand; as it usually was these days. He had become a regular sixteen-year-old Alastor Moody with all of his paranoia. He was constantly on edge and ready for a fight; and he'd dug out his old pocket sneakoscope and carried it with him. (Unfortunately it kept going off in Professor Wiltra's – the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher – room.)

"Is it Voldemort?" Harry asked nonchalantly. Even thought the people around them could have cared less about Harry and Luna's conversation, a ripple of flinches and winces went through everyone who could hear Harry's voice. Luna looked confused, rather than afraid and she shook her head while quirking one of her unusually pale eyebrows.

"No." She replied as he pointed a nervous finger at a large gray box near Ron's feet. "Mistletoe."

Harry was instantly annoyed at this and he returned the wand to his pocket. Malfoy, while unable to hear their conversation, did see Luna and Harry whispering to each other and then pointing at the box of mistletoe. Malfoy's thin lips began to curve into a sneer and he then turned around on the table and began to hum to himself in different tunes as if he was trying to write a song. Harry didn't notice, though.

"Why are you afraid of mistletoe?" Harry asked her.

"Nargles." Luna replied as her eyes remained on the box of white berries. "We talked about this before."

"We did?"

"Last year. I don't think you remember. You seemed more interested in Cho Chang." Luna informed him. Harry did not quite remember the incident before; but he could not forget his infatuation with Cho Chang. It had been a long-time crush that became a short-lived romance. Back then Harry had been wondering if he'd get to kiss her again after that first time; now he was wishing he had followed Oliver Wood's advice when he first met Cho and knocked her off her broom.

However Harry's annoyance with his former crush was driven from his head as Ron gave him a sharp poke in the side. Harry glared up at the redhead; who dropped the box of mistletoe into his lap. Apparently while he was brooding about Cho they had finished the talking and began to decorating. As soon as the mistletoe was sat down Luna shimmied down the table and moved far away from Harry. Ron shook his head and muttered something sounding like 'mental' before he vanished to go boss Malfoy around. Harry shrugged and dropped the mistletoe box; having no real interest in decorating when he was now once again sad.

Harry got sad very easily. And not because of Cho; she was a jerk and he was very sorry he had wasted his time on her. No; he was upset because thinking of Cho meant thinking of last year which always lead to thinking about Sirius Black. Harry's stomach clenched into a painful knot at the mere thought of him. Anything from the mention of the color black to the sight of Severus Snape would send Harry back into a world of pain. This world was filled with the arrogant cries of a dark haired Godfather just before his death. The questioning sounds of Cedric Diggory before his life was swept from his body. The heroic sounds of a father fighting to protect his wife and child; and of course, the screams of a mother pleading with Voldemort for her child's life.

And above all of those sounds were the simple laughs. Voldemort's low, cold laughter that could freeze the bone marrow quicker than a dementor in a snowstorm. And the high, hallow sound of Bellatrix Lestrange's insane laughs that would boil blood and cause Harry to want to scream with fury. These laughs made him simply crazy and they always seemed to drain the fun out of whatever he was doing that day. That kind of horror would not go away within a mere half a year of mourning his Godfather's death.

Harry would not be able to continue his self-pity wallowing; however. He was shaken out of the horrible world of black sadness and laughter by the sounds of grunts and kicks. Harry whirled around and his vivid green eyes fell on Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. The three of them were at the base of the Christmas tree and they were all kicking something. It took Harry a moment to notice the large lump that the feet were colliding into was actual Ron, who was curled up with blood coming down his sides. Harry's wand was out in a split-second but he was already too late.

Hermione got there first.

Hermione's fist came smashing into Draco's face with such force that he went tumbling straight into the hard marble floor. Before Draco could move Hermione was on top of him and giving him a beating worse than last year when Harry and George had done the same thing. Draco was pathetically fighting back but Hermione was so ferocious in her pursuit of Malfoy's blood that no one dared interfere. Once before Ron had seen Hermione loose her temper like this but never had he seen her so violent. He was certain that no one short of Voldemort himself would have the guts to throw a punch at the bookworm. Crabbe and Goyle stood flabbergasted as they watched but a second later Anthony and Ernie had grabbed Crabbe around his arms. Crabbe gave a grunt of surprise and began to thrash around violently which caused Anthony's head to collide into the tree with a harsh crunch.

Across the room Blaise Zabini had been going for her wand when Ginny jumped her from behind and knocked her on the ground. Ginny was slapping, punching, scratching and kicking Blaise from behind as the two of them hit the ground. Theodore Knott aimed a curse at Ginny but Justin Finch-Fletchly; who had come with Ernie and Hannah as a volunteer and had always disliked Theodore, was faster and hit Knott with a spell that caused his nose to inflate to the size of a small killer whale.

Harry turned his eyes back to the Christmas tree where Hermione was continuing to bloody her robes as they pressed into Malfoy; whose nose was spewing the red liquid like a fountain. Crabbe punching Ernie behind the table but Goyle had managed to get rid of Neville, who had been feebly trying to punch him down, and was now heading straight for Luna Lovegood. Luna didn't seem to notice and Harry instantly aimed his wand and yelled out the incantation to the first spell he could think of.

"_Fistula Pustule!_"

A white ball of light launched from Harry's wand and collided with Goyle's face. The scream that followed was one of the most horrifying sounds Harry had ever heard. Everyone in the room; even Hermione and Malfoy, had stopped fighting and turned to face Goyle. The titan of a teenager was on the ground crying and whimpering as a huge suppurating sore had appeared. Pus was oozing out onto the floor like a river as it mixed in with an ocean of red blood that followed suit. Only Luna Lovegood's protuberant cobalt gaze was on Harry as she stared at him unblinking. Harry didn't notice because he was too busy watching Goyle twitch in pain.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Instantly everyone turned away from Goyle. Everyone except for Luna, who was still gazing at Harry; and Harry himself who didn't want to face the master of the voice that had screamed his name. However an instantly later a red stunner hit Harry in the back of the head and he fell to the ground with a thud. Perhaps to a normal student (that is to say someone who hadn't been tortured by Voldemort in the past) would have been knocked out by Severus Snape's stunner. However Harry was still awake and now gazing up at Snape.

Snape's thin lips were ground into a fine sneer. His eyes were wide and angry and a vein was pounding in his pasty forehead. His large nose was bent down low next to Goyle before he muttered a spell which caused the fester to heal and vanish. However Goyle had still lost a lot of blood and was still in a small puddle of pus and Snape jabbed a finger at Crabbe and commanded he take his fallen friend to the hospital wing. Snape then rounded on Hermione; who hadn't bothered getting off Malfoy. She didn't shrink under his gaze of pure anger but she did climb off Malfoy, dust off her skirt, and walk over and take a seat on the counter. Afterwards Snape glared at the rest of the room and the remaining students were separating. Then Snape turned back to Harry and he spoke in a voice that reminded him of Basilisk venom.

"You could have killed Mr. Goyle with that, Potter." Snape's hissing voice spat. "I shall be informing the headmaster _and_ the Ministry of Magic about this. Then we shall see if famous Harry Potter can keep himself out of Azkaban, much less detention. And I believe I shall take ten points from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for each of its students involved in this attack. Fifty from Miss. Granger because she apparently has a temper to match her know-it-all personality; and one hundred from you Potter because of your homicidal nature."

"And I believe one hundred from Mr. Malfoy for starting this awful fight, don't you agree Severus?" An aged voice came from the doorway. Harry felt a sense of relief at Dumbledore's tone since it seemed quiet and cautious instead of angry. From the look of frozen poison on Snape's face it was clear that he did not agree with this one bit; but Snape knew better than to cross Albus Dumbledore.

"Sorry Snivellus." Harry hissed quietly. Snape's face became a ugly shade of puce and paste and he looked as if he may jinx Harry again; but Dumbledore cleared his throat and stepped between them wisely.

"That is all Severus. You shall take these students to the Hospital Wing. I shall be assigning detentions myself so you don't need to."

Snape opened his mouth to complain; but then he stopped and turned away with rage fuming out of his entire body. As he shook violently he barked a quick order for everyone to follow him to the Hospital Wing and Hermione shot Harry a nervous look as she bit her lip and helped Ron stand up. Hermione's temper was gone and now she looked positively frightened as to what she had done. Ron, however, was staring at Hermione in awe as if she was Merlin himself.

"You too Miss. Lovegood." Dumbledore spoke without even bothering to look behind him, and Harry wondered if he had some Mad-Eye Moody skill to see from the back of his head. Luna's face crept with a pink hue and she quickly followed Ron and Hermione out of the great hall. As she did Dumbledore bent down on his knees and extended a hand to Harry. Harry allowed himself to be helped up to the table.

"Harry." Dumbledore said very seriously. "I shall not expel you today, or any other day that can be helped; however I shall not impede on Snape's point taking and I do believe you should serve some detention."

"Okay." Harry replied trying to hide his smile. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he stood up and looked down at the puddle of Goyle's pus and blood.

"That was a fine Festering Charm." Dumbledore announced with a hint of pride behind his aged voice. "However it would be useless against Voldemort."

Harry's face, which had risen at the announcement that his charm was adequate, fell considerably. He had read about the charm in an advanced dark arts spell book that the Room of Requirement had helped him attain. Dumbledore smiled a bit at Harry and then walked over to the table and stared into his vivid-green, almond-shaped eyes with his old, sparkling ones.

"Harry, I know you wish to be well vested in spell-work for when the time comes to face Lord Voldemort." The Headmaster announced. "However I must impress upon you not to use your classmates as target practice anymore."

Harry nodded and apologized once again. Dumbledore turned around and exited the great hall without a word. Harry stayed seated at the table for a minute before he rose. He obviously wanted to go visit Ron and Hermione in the hospital wing; but he also wanted to wait till Snape was gone. Not only had he nearly killed Goyle but he had called Snape "Snivellus"; which he had taken to doing whenever he got the chance in honor of Sirius Black.

At the memory of Sirius, Harry was launched back into his black world of death and laughter. The cold sound of Voldemort's echoing mirth was drowned out this time by the hot, heckling sounds of Bellatrix laughing. Her cackle was like white-hot fire that pierced Harry's heart and made him want to scream. Harry was shaking and he could feel tears welling up behind his eyes. Suddenly he could feel a hand on his shoulder. Harry reached out and gripped the hand in a death grip that could have broken the wrist is he had wanted too.  
  
Harry's eyes opened to find Luna Lovegood's blue equals staring back at him. He released his bone-crunching Quidditch-like grip on Luna's wrist and she rubbed it for a moment as if it was sore. However she made no move to complain. Instead she untied the butterbeer cap necklace from around her neck and she then worked away the knot at the end. Harry was about to ask what she was doing when she pulled one of the bottle caps off and placed it inside the palm of Harry's hand. She then pushed Harry's fingers closed. Harry was no longer confused on what she was doing; but why was still a question.

Luna returned the necklace to its proper place around her neck and then smiled at Harry with a dreamy look on her and an equally dreamy sound to her voice as she spoke at last.

"Thank you." Were the words she spoke. Then she turned around and headed for the exit. Harry blinked twice before turning and looking after her and blinked once more before he replied.

"Hey wait a second!" Harry called. "What's this for?"

Luna turned back around and gave him a look that reminded him strongly of third year when Malfoy had asked Hagrid how to open _The Monster Book of Monsters_. Harry felt a bit embarrassed but he honestly had no clue why she had given him a bottle cap. She then spoke in a quiet voice that lost the usual dreamy quality.

"To remind you." She answered him.

"Of what?" Harry inquired.

"That pain goes away in time." Luna answered sagely. "You know I watched my mother die Harry, but I'm okay now. You will be too someday."

Before Harry could even begin to think of a reply to that, Luna was gone. She had vanished out the doors and down the hallways. Harry couldn't quite understand it at first but somehow hearing Luna say that sent quite a few emotions through his body. First was anger that she'd tell him it would be alright. Everyone said that but none of them knew. Then as he realized that she had lost her mother; Harry began to wonder if maybe she was right. Harry began to feel that he wanted to talk to Luna about it. Harry was very confused by this whole day and he decided that even if it meant seeing Snape he had to find Ron and Hermione. He had to clear his head, and get rid of this odd knot in his stomach that had appeared when Luna held his hand like that.

**----**

It was Harry's luck that the hospital wing was Snape-free. Madam Pompfrey had separated the Slytherins and the Gryffindors into separate rooms. Harry avoided the room reserved for Malfoy and his group and instead went to the very back room of the infirmary to find some of his friends. Jack Sloper was being treated for a bad black eye that Crabbe had given him, but it looked much better now that Madam Pompfrey had cured him and Harry was guessing that Jack was simply faking further injury and trying to get out of class.

Others weren't so lucky. Neville had a broken rib from Goyle and Madam Pompfrey had given him a horrible tasting, slow-acting potion to fix it up. He was sitting on a chair near Ron's bed when Harry showed up and as soon as he did he burst into applause. Ginny, Jack, Ron, Seamus and Dean (who had both shown up after hearing what happened) and Pavarti all did too. Hermione, who was sitting on the edge of Ron's bed, waved shyly but Ron clapped her on the back.

"We're having a party for you two tonight!" Ron announced. "Damn Harry, I dunno what you used on Goyle but you _better_ teach us in the next DA meeting!"  
  
They had all decided in the first week of school to continue with the DA. And they now had nearly ten times the members with Voldemort's return. Since Dumbledore didn't mind he had actually cleared a block of time on Fridays for the DA to meet. It meant they had an extra lesson every Monday; but that was fine as the extra lesson was Defense Against the Dark Arts and Professor Wiltra never gave them much work anyway. Harry was still teaching the DA and in the few months of school so far he had brought nearly everyone up to par on Stunners, Disarming Spells, Shield Charms and most of the older members were doing well with Patronums. Hermione was excellent with hers and Neville was making the best work on stunners; perhaps because of seeing Bellatrix Lestrange last year and wanting revenge for his parents. Harry didn't have the heart to tell Neville that if anyone was going to kill Bella it would be him.

"I'll admit." Hermione said suddenly. "Malfoy deserved what he got. But Harry you really could have hurt Goyle . . ."

"Which is why Harry is so freaking cool!" Ron laughed beside her. Hermione glared at him but Ron merely continued laughing. Harry cracked a smile and sat down.

"Dumbledore said my festering charm was excellent." Harry announced with a sly grin. Hermione glared at him too but Jack and Neville both applauded once more and Pavarti gave an awed squeal. Harry looked around the room and found no sign of the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw classes.

"Where are the others?" Harry asked.

"Well." Ron replied. "Justin and Anthony are both down the hall since they got pretty roughed up. The rest went to tell Dumbledore what happened. I think that Zabini woman went with them."

Ginny snorted. "I got her in the eye."

Ron beamed. "That-a girl."

"Ginny!" Hermione cried, aghast. "You could have poked her eye out!"

"You're the one who went Rocky on Malfoy." Harry reminded her. Hermione gave a slight smile and blushed deep red. It was obvious that everyone else (except for Jack Sloper who was also a pureblood) hadn't gotten the joke. Hermione however had and she did grin at Harry while nibbling on her bottom lip, which was now raw and pink from her constant biting.

"I suppose I did."

Harry fell into silence from his seat (He was now sitting between Jack and Pavarti) as his fellow housemates recalled their own heroic fight tales. Neville was honest with his beating from Goyle, but would always end the story by reminding them that Harry had nearly killed the big lug. Jack was retelling of how Crabbe had knocked him in the eye but he had bitten his finger and eventually they even managed to get Hermione to crack a smile and retell the experience of beating the snot from Malfoy's body with excessive force. Harry however was quiet when they talked to him; and so Ron quickly changed the subject and told how he could have taken Malfoy is he wasn't ganged up on.  
  
Throughout the whole time Harry stayed quiet. His finger was inside his pocket and it was twisting the butterbeer cap around as he thought about Luna Lovegood. He wasn't sure what was going on but he had only today noticed how pretty her hair looked in the false sunlight of the Great Hall's ceiling . . .

**---- ---- ---- ----**

**Current Tunes: -Listening to Toby Keith's _I'm Just Talking About Tonight_-**

**Author's Notes**: Well that's chapter one. Not exactly my shortest, but I've also done much better in the past.

Anyway, the story is more PG than PG-13, but because of all the fighting and Ron's occasional cursing I had to up the rating.

Anyway, dedicated to Katie cause I told her I'd write her a Harry/Luna story; and I'm not about to break a promise to her.

Okay. More coming later. Harry and Luna will have a talk


	2. Quidditch and Questions

**Nargles**

**By Brando**

**  
Dedicated to Katie**

**Disclaimer**: I'm still not J.K. Rowling or any kind of Publishing or Warner Brothers executive. I'm not involved with the movies or books and I'm begging you not to sue.

**Corrections**: Last chapter when it spoke of Ron seeing Hermione this angry, it was supposed to say Harry.

Also when referring to the Rocky joke it should have read (except for Jack Sloper who was also a muggle-born). Plus I know one of Dean and Seamus is a muggle-born, I just forgot who. –Dies-

And Ron said McGonnigal gave them their jobs, but I later said it was the Head Boy and Girl. So all of those should have been corrected.

Also, not sure if I made this clear or not; but it is **not** Christmas Break yet. It's a little before.

Parts of the conversation on the grounds were taken from a RPG. Credit for the wonderfully angst-filled death of Loony's mom goes to Kate.

**----**

Ron had told Harry they were going to have a party for him and Hermione. However as soon as they had arrived in the Common Room Harry had put his foot down on the idea. Everyone had been truly hurt that Harry didn't want to partake in the party but he reminded them all of the impending Quidditch game and told them that he mustn't be hangover while looking for the stitch. They had shared a laugh and Jack Sloper had announced they would have the party tomorrow night instead so they could celebrate Malfoy's beating in life _and_ in Quidditch.

So they had postponed the Party and Harry had retreated to the world of sleep. It was rather strange because that night he didn't dream about Bellatrix and Voldemort and death and self-depression. He didn't dream about anything; really. Instead he only drifted into a dreamless slumber. It was a great change from the usual and he wondered why it had happened the way it did. Whatever the reason, Harry was awakened the next morning in a pleasant mood instead of his normal brooding melancholy.

After changing and chatting with Ron for a few moments (the redhead was still in awe of Hermione) Harry exited the dormitory and headed down for the common room. In the morning hours no one was usually around; since they were either sleeping or going to breakfast. However today a single soul, Ginny Weasley, was sitting in the common room and reading a book as she lay on the couch by the fireplace. Harry gave her a hello and took a seat down at the edge of the couch after she sat up.

"Something wrong?" Ginny asked him skeptically.

"Why do you ask?" Harry replied, confused.

"Because normally you get to the pitch early and try to think of a strategy for the game instead of sitting here and talking to me." Ginny reminded him.

"Ah." Harry said rather lamely. "Well I actually did want to ask you something."

"Well then ask me." Ginny responded. "Because you're kinda creeping me out with the mystery thing."

Harry rolled his almond-shaped eyes and began to think of a way to ask her. He was still curious about Luna's behavior yesterday afternoon when she had presented him with the bottle cap. He happened to know that Ginny was close friends with Luna and wondered if she would be able to shed some light on it. However as soon as he did explain this (he decided just to tell her what happened) Ginny did something he didn't expect. Her lips curved into an amused smile and her eyes lit up like Doctor Filibuster Fireworks.

"Someone has a crush on Harry." She laughed.  
  
Harry blinked. "What? No!"

Ginny nodded. "Oh yes she does. Luna's very protective of those bottle caps. If she gave you one then she likes you."

Harry slumped back into the couch with an odd look on his face. Someone liked him? That was . . . different. He'd never really had someone like him before; at least not to his knowledge. Well, Ginny herself had had a large crush on him a few years ago but nothing had even happened. Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood? Thinking about it Harry would actually have to admit the school would say it made sense. After all; Luna was the crazy girl in the castle and Harry was the attention-seeking celebrity. (Even if they knew he was now telling the truth about Voldemort; Harry was still considered nutty)

"Well I'll leave you to ponder this." Ginny said clapping him on the back. "But don't forget that we have Quidditch in an hour."

And an hour did pass. An hour that Harry spent thinking about the possibility of someone having a crush on him. Finally, Harry set off towards the Quidditch pitch, Firebolt in hand and a grin on his face as he arrived and ran off to reach the locker rooms.

Upon reaching the locker rooms, Harry quickly made his way past the other members of the Quidditch team and he ignored them for a moment. The team seemed odd without the Weasley Twins or their usual three chasers. Still, the new beaters, Jack and Andrew, were doing very well, and the new chasers, one of them Ginny Weasley, were also up to part for this year. Katie Bell, the only remaining person on the team older than Harry, had been made the new captain. Although being Captain didn't matter to Harry. He was happy just being allowed to play Quidditch again. The Education Decrees of Dolores Jane Umbridge were all void now. Fudge was trying to make amends for not believing Harry about Voldemort.

Harry made his way to his locker and quickly exchanged his ink black robes for the scarlet ones and then added his gloves and boots. Harry sighed and moved back from the locker, broom in hand, and looking at himself in the mirror for a second. It felt good to be back in his uniform, since he hadn't worn it at all during his fourth year, and only once in his fifth year. Shaking his head, Harry closed and locked his locker before turning to the team. With Angelina and Oliver things of the past, he had been delighted to find Katie Bell wasn't nearly as insane as the two of them when it came to pep talks. When she'd finished with it the team all went into their normal morning preps.

Harry sat on the bench for the entire time. Ron was much too busy reading a book called _Tips for Keepers: 101 ways to stop the Quaffle or die trying_ to engage him in conversation and the chases were all huddled going over their next strategies, while the beaters were taking turns throwing things at each other and practicing smacking them away. Harry yawned at all of this and watched the beaters play for a while before returning his gaze to the path that would lead them to the Quidditch Pitch. He could smell the excitement in the air and he knew that it was almost time to play his favorite sport on earth.

Finally he heard the whistle of Madam Hooch outside and he stood quickly, almost running towards the entrance, unable to contain his excitement for the current moment. When he entered the stands and heard the roar of the crowd, he felt like he was home.

He cast his eyes around the stands. He could see the large hulking form of Hagrid. The figures in front of Hagrid he could only assume were Hermione, Neville and Luna. He could tell Luna because of her giant lion hat from a year ago that really roared and even at this distance he could make out the shapes of the short Neville and the bushy-haired Hermione.

Harry then returned his gaze to the game at hand and kicked off the ground into the air. He soared up into the sky and enjoyed the breeze on his face like he had enjoyed nothing before. Flying through the air, Harry zoomed up and up for a moment, before taking a final seat just above the Gryffindor Goal Hoops.

He nodded down at Ron, but doubted the redhead saw him because Ron was much too busy flying around the hoops. Harry let his eyes travel across the field to Malfoy, who was leaning on his broom smugly and saying something to the beater, Crabbe, to the side of him. Harry had no chance of making out what it was that Malfoy was saying, but he didn't really need to hear it to guess it had something to do with either him or Ron. Goyle was absent from the game.

Harry watched as the twin bludgers were let into the air, but he ignored them completely. He watched as she tosses the Quaffle and Ginny was able to steal it away before the Slytherin chaser could. Still, he ignored this too. He kept his eyes on Madam Hooch's hand which held the tiny, golden snitch. The single most important ball in all of Quidditch. And the sweetest salvation to Harry. While he had to work so hard to find and to catch that tiny ball, he couldn't spend time thinking about his dead parents or his equally deceased Godfather. All he could think about was Quidditch.

"And it Ginny Weasley with the Quaffle, she's going for a goal at the Slytherin in – going – going – almost there – Ouch, and it's blocked! Bad shot Gryffindor."

The new commentator was a change since Harry had become accustom to Lee Jordan's amusing chit chat, but Lee was a graduate now and he was currently working in Diagon Alley with the Weasley Twins. Shrugging off the bad comments on the game, Harry looked around until he caught a tiny glimmer of gold. It was zooming around near Ron and Harry threw all of his weight into launching towards it. Flying at a speed that could match any of previous games, Harry readied himself for an early catch. Malfoy was on his tail in a second and struggling to catch ahead of him.

"Shove off Malfoy!" Harry warned him as he swerved and cut Malfoy off. Draco had to pull up and go through a violent spin to keep from hitting Harry. Malfoy replied to him with a slew of curse words. Harry returned his attention to the stitch but found it was gone. Malfoy wouldn't know that.

Zooming ahead Harry went flying straight at the ground near the goal hoops. Ron was watching Harry the whole time and he let the Quaffle in the goals behind him. Harry didn't have time to lecture Ron, though. Instead he threw all of the speed the Firebolt could handle into his dive. Malfoy was behind him doing the same on his old Nimbus. Then Harry pulled up in a move that would have been insane if he didn't have such an agile broom. Malfoy saw this but it was too late for him. He smashed into the ground with a sickening crunch and the Slytherin end of the crowd booed and hissed. Harry zoomed away and flew by Ginny Weasley; who was scoring a goal from the outraged Slytherin Keeper, before he settled back into the sky and looked around for the real stitch.

Harry didn't find the stitch, though. He continued to circle the stadium for a long time but never once found it. He could see that Malfoy was lagging in his tracks. Then again he had been beaten yesterday and thrown into the grounds today and so it was no surprise that he was sore and flying slower. Harry watched Malfoy for a second as he flew slowly towards the large Hufflepuff-colored stands. His eyes fell on a tiny glimmer of gold near the stands and suddenly he realized that Malfoy was not lagging; he was trying to catch the snitch without attracting Harry's attention.   
  
He had failed.

Harry shot towards the golden glimmer like a stampeding hippogriff; but as soon as he did Malfoy sped up. Harry could never have reached the stitch in time and since the score was only 40 to 20 (Gryffindor in the lead) they would lose the game. He could never have reached it if not for Vincent Crabbe, that is. Crabbe smacked a large black bludger at Harry and attempted to knock him off his broom, but Harry rolled and watched in satisfaction as the bludger hit Malfoy's broom in the back and cut him down. Malfoy's broom; which had been snapped like a twig, gave out and sent the blonde boy plummeting to the ground with an angry thud. Harry grinned and swooped down to grab the stitch a second before Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Gryffindor had won and Draco Malfoy had been humiliated. How could life get sweeter?

**----**

Several hours and a few bottle of butterbeer later; Harry was sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room laughing like there was no tomorrow. Ron was standing in the middle of the room retelling the tale of the fight from yesterday and the audience was clapping and applauding in all the right places. Music was playing and a bottle of firewhiskey (which had been owled in from Fred and George after they heard about the fight) had been opened and Harry was sure he was a little drunk. He was also sure that Dean Thomas was very drunk because he was dancing on the table in the corner with a waste-bin on his head.

Growing a tad tired from the feats of drinking, story-telling and laughing; Harry decided to go for a walk. Standing up and brushing his scarlet robes off (he hadn't had time to change from his Quidditch uniform after the game and had instead kept the grass-stained robes on) Harry set off. Ginny watched him leave for a second before she pulled Hermione aside.

"Hey; where does Harry keep his cloak?" She asked.

Hermione quirked a brow. "In his trunk, why?"

Ginny flashed the older girl a sly smile. "Just go get it and follow me."

Hermione shook her head. "Why do you want to follow Harry?"

Ginny shrugged. "Because he didn't throw away any of those butterbeer bottle caps. Now just trust me and get the cloak."

If Hermione was confused she made no move of showing it. She hurried up to the Boy's Dorm and appeared a few minutes later with an old square of parchment and a silvery cloak. Ginny grinned and quickly led Hermione to the fat lady's portrait but Hermione stopped.

"Shouldn't we tell Ron?" She asked; but Ginny shook her head.

"You of all people should know Ron's not good with matters of the heart."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Ginny simply laughed before disappearing behind the invisibly cloak. Hermione frowned and followed her quickly; unable to pry the answer she wanted from the redhead.

**----**

It was almost sunset and now Harry was very quiet. He looked at the orange hue of the sky for a minute before setting himself down beneath a large lake-side tree. Perhaps he would have been better off inside but Harry was growing tired of the party. Something was nagging at his mind and it wouldn't go away. Luna. Something about Luna's words the other day was causing Harry to think about her much more than he should. And the idea that Ginny claimed she had a crush on Harry was causing Harry to think about what that would be like . . .

And whenever Harry did think about something happening between Luna and him, he didn't really mind what he thought of. The things he pictured in his mind were all very happy and someone Harry had found himself intrigued with the idea. It hadn't taken him long to realize he was developing a crush on her and now he was becoming worried about things. It wasn't so much the fact that he was too shy to date someone; that wasn't the problem. It was the pure and simple fact that people close to Harry die. His parents, Sirius Black, they all died. Ron and Hermione had both been injured many times and many members of the order had been harmed severely, Tonks had even been hospitalized. If Voldemort found out Harry had a girlfriend –

Then again that was jumping ahead a bit. He wasn't even sure Luna would want to date him. He wasn't even sure if he really had a crush on her. He couldn't be sure about any of these things because he had only done the crush thing once before and that hadn't worked out so well at all.

Harry had fallen into a world of self-depression and brooding as he sat under that tree and began to re-fall into that world for pain when suddenly Harry heard footsteps and he tore his eyes away from his the ground and darted them around the grounds. His fingers shot down to his waistline and gripped the edge of his wand tightly, but as his almond-shaped eyed settled on Luna Lovegood he relaxed his grip and let the adrenalin fall away from his bloodstream. Harry was becoming more and more like Mad-Eye Moody every day, and now at the slightest noise he'd be liable to jump up and hex anything that moved.

"Hello, Harry."   
  
The Quidditch match had been brutal – Luna winced at some points. Frowning slightly at the memory, Luna collapsed gracefully to his side and fiddled with a strand of grass. Sweeping her straggly blonde hair from her view, Luna watched Harry, unblinkingly, observing the pained look in his brilliant green eyes. Her pale eyes focusing on his face, she opened her mouth and offered hopefully consoling words.   
  
"It will get better." She assured him.

Harry snorted. "A lot of people say that to me Luna."

Luna didn't blink once as her large eyes stared at Harry. Her words were said in the same dreamy voice and once again she had the sincerest hope to help him overcome his obvious world of black.

"Harry," she spoke softly, finally blinking her pale cobalt eyes, "you've got to remember not everything always works out. But what you did have, you should appreciate." These wise words did not come from her, but rather from her grandfather. Her twinkling round eyes fixed upon Harry, she rested her hand upon his knee, staring at the ground in deep thought for a moment. Then she looked back up at him.

Her eyes fell upon his tousled, jet-black hair and she found herself wondering if he combed it often. Then again, she had become accustomed to Harry without neat hair, and was unsure she would familiarize herself with him if he flattened his hair. She knew his bangs were screening a thin, lightning-bolt shaped scar from her sight, but wouldn't persist at gaping at this scar: if she were him, she would not appreciate people constantly gawking at her forehead. Her eyes falling upon his, she locked her unblinking pale gaze with his.

Luna was fond of Harry's eyes. A rather uncommon color, vivid green… it was the first thing that caught her eye about him, rather than the great cut slashed across his forehead. Perhaps they would have been more charming if they weren't swimming with heartache that washed out all cheerfulness from them… this troubled Luna. She wished to help him, because she did know the pain that followed loosing someone dear. She knew that shunning the pain would only bring it back, full-fledged and perhaps worse, in time. She had learned this the hard way. She didn't desire to push Harry through this, and would try to assist him in ceasing the anguish that came with the death of his Godfather. Not that she truly understood, however. Luna still cherished times with her father, grandparents, and cousins; Harry merely had Muggles.

Harry briefly let his eyes travel to Luna and noticed that she was staring rather fixedly at his shaggy mass of hair. Harry was used to people gazing at him and scrutinizing everything he did and everything he said and the ways in which he did and said these things. He found that it was one of the worst annoyances in his life these days, aside from Voldemort; Sirius's being dead, and Snape's classes. Being stared at by people who thought of him as insane and a seeker of attention made him mad. It made him mad because every year since he had started Hogwarts he had risked his life for them. Did they not understand that if Voldemort ever won their yearly battles, the world would be covered in darkness? Did they not understand that if Voldemort finally did kill Harry Potter, then they would all be killed next?

"What are you thinking about Harry?" Luna asked him out of the blue.

"Trying to listen to what you said." Harry responded softly. "Wishing I had some good time to remember about Sirius." He paused. "The problem is I never had any. The only time I ever saw him was when I was in danger and in need of help."

Luna tilted her head to the side. "I don't think that is true Harry."

Harry glared at her. "How the hell would you know?"

"Because I watched my mother die!" Luna snapped back, the dreamy quality fallen from her voice like it had done when Hermione had insulted _The Quibbler_ a year earlier. "Harry please don't think you're the only person to have lost a loved one, because you aren't."

There was a pause, and then Harry came up with a lame "I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure if he was apologizing for being rude, or apologizing because she was right and he would get over Sirius, or if he was apologizing for Luna's loss. He suspected it was a little of all of that. Harry tore his almond-shaped eyes away from Luna and towards the sky once more. He began to wish he was on his broom instead of sitting here next to Luna Lovegood, acting like a complete prat. He knew that later on he'd be just as moody and glum as he had been before, but something about Luna's words; both the calm words or advice and the angry words she had shouted at him now, seemed to help. Shaking his head, Harry ruffled a hand through his hair and tried to clear his mind of everything.

Harry then looked over at Luna for a moment. He wasn't quite sure why he asked what he did ask. Maybe it was because of the crush he was developing on her; or maybe it was just from being overly nosey. However he did ask her a question that would be crossing a line he could never uncross.

"How did your mother die, Luna?"

"My mother?" she said thoughtfully. "Oh… well… you do remember that bird that Ginny was looking at in the Department of Mysteries, don't you?" she asked him slowly, avoiding his eyes.

The squirming sensation in her stomach seemed to knot. It wasn't as painful as talking about her mother as it was years ago, and now spoke with a trace of pride in her voice as she conversed with Harry. However, the unfamiliar feeling in her stomach turned to more of an apprehensive feeling as she thought over her mother's death… but Harry deserved to know. He had informed her of the details of his Godfather's death, he had to the whole D.A.: she would feel rude, not explaining everything to him . . . anyway, she felt compelled to tell him about it (which was strange, as she had never provided details to anyone).

**_Flashback_**

"Luna, dear, come down here!"  
  
A woman, aged no older than twenty-nine, called down to her nine-year-old daughter. The woman had wavy blonde hair that reached her waist, her hazel eyes glittering with delight as she observed a bird, trapped in a glass jar, that hatched from an egg and attempted to burst into flight, but without escaping the glass, shrunk back into the egg. As the process progressed, the woman watched ecstatically, waving her wand impatiently. As a sweep of sparks sprinkled the table in which the cage sat on, the procedure paused, and the bird collapsed, lifeless, onto the ground of the cage. Whirling around as her daughter clumsily tumbled down the stairs, the young girl beamed up at her mother.   
  
"Yes, mummy?"   
  
She resembled her mother greatly – but she inherited her father's eyes, a charming pale blue, wide and round; her eyebrows flew into her hair, which was frizzing from the wind outside, as she watched the inanimate bird. Gasping, she bent over the table and examined the bird, rotating around to blame her mother. Wailing loudly as her lip trembled; she grasped her mother's arm and shook her vigorously.   
  
"You killed the bird!"   
  
Her mother simply beamed amiably, raising her wand and murmuring the incantation to bring the bird back to life, but Luna had knocked her arm out of the way in fury that her mother had 'murdered' a living creature. Her mother's wrist twisting, the shower of blue sparks coming from her wand drenched her. Her mother's hazel eyes enlarged in astounded panic before Luna watched the procedure that the bird had endured befall upon her mother.   
  
"DADDY!"

Her father had collected the sketches for the spell and hesitantly donated them to the Ministry of Magic, where they had repeated the process her mother had in creating the bird. Her father speculated and Luna merely observed her father's concentration curiously – her mother, now deceased, was an extraordinary witch, working for the Department of Mysteries. Luna and Mr. Lovegood knew little of her labor, for Unspeakables required the quality of being secretive – they could not utter their work . . . as a tribute to her memory, Mr. Lovegood contributed the plans for the strange bird to the Ministry – because he knew she wished he would.

**_Present_**

Harry sat in quiet. He didn't know what to say or what to do. The horror of Luna's experience was drilling into him like white hot knives. Harry knew the feeling of knowing you were responsible for the death of a loved one. Or anyone. He had been responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter, Cedric Diggory, that old man at Riddle Manor, the Ministry woman that Voldemort killed to learn of the Triwizard tournament, and Sirius Black, his beloved Godfather.

And it had been an accident of Luna's that caused her mother to die. That was horrible. He was convinced that she did know the pain he knew and he had once prayed that no one would ever have to find the same pain he knew. Harry did not quite know what he was doing, but he found himself slipping an arm around Luna's shoulders. He was sure that if there was a right thing to do right now, this was not it. Still he found himself feeling horribly sad after hearing the tale and he let his eyes close once again.

"Luna. . . I'm sorry." He said once again, wishing he could find something new to say. Those words were empty and he knew that from first hand experience. "I never meant to bring this up."

Sighing, Luna leaned back on what she thought would be the bark, but instead was Harry's arm. Lifting her head embarrassedly, Luna stared at her feet.

She could not ignore the heavy heat she felt her face burn with, or the beads of sweat that were rolling down her face as she determinedly avoided Harry's eyes. Oh, she loved his eyes, certainly, but she did not know if she could bear to gaze into them right now. Her heart throbbing as a smile threatened to pull onto her face, Luna was tempted to lift her arm and fan herself. Luna's emotions were often exaggerated, especially when she was amused: the laughing fit she had pulled at Ron Weasley's joke on the train was a perfect example. But never before had she experienced this squirming feeling in her stomach – she was sure it was embarrassment, but what was there to be embarrassed about?   
  
So Harry had his arm wrapped around her shoulders . . . he was comforting her. Instinctively she nestled her head against his shoulder, taking in his scent. He smelled like . . . grass. She supposed it was because of all the Quidditch playing. Shutting her eyes, her tense muscles relaxed. Suddenly her pale cobalt eyes shot open. What was she doing? Her face growing hotter as she lifted her head, she stiffened until he let go of her shoulders. During this… strange incident, Luna had forgotten about her mother.   
  
"It's all right," she said hurriedly, her dreamy voice sounding oddly distorted. "I mean… it helped, talking about it, you know." She finished lamely.

By the time Luna had rocketed away from his arm and said something offhanded about talking about her mother, Harry was as red as a Weasley's hair. He began to look around the empty grounds and noticed a short, balding, pudgy man staring straight at them. It was Professor Wiltra, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Gulping Harry clasped his hands together in his lap and became thankful it was only Wiltra and not Snape. Still, he was out after hours and snuggling with Luna on the empty grounds and that didn't look good one way or another.

"Mr. Potter. Miss. Lovegood." The Professor said as he stepped over to them. "After hours?"

Both of them had an obvious blush on their faces and Professor Wiltra seemed a bit nervous. He looked around the grounds for a brief second as if he was looking for more students breaking the rules. Wiltra was constantly looking around for rule breakers. Moving his large gloved hands out of his pockets he looked down at Harry and gave him a smile.

"Why don't the two of you go back to the school? Your own respective common rooms. I believe Professor Snape is on his way out and I don't think he'd be as nice as I."

Harry muttered a goodbye to Luna as he made his way back to the castle, under Wiltra's gaze the entire time. Wiltra yawned and turned back on his own and vanished off into the Forbidden Forest. As soon as all three of them had cleared away, Ginny threw the Invisibility Cloak off herself and kicked a large rock in anger. Hermione shook her head.

"Stupid teachers. What was the point of telling Luna she should go comfort Harry if he's going to ruin everything!?"

Hermione shook her head. "We should have used the map." She confirmed. She had swiped the Marauder's Map from Harry's trunk but since Harry and Luna were supposedly alone on the grounds they didn't see a point of using it. It wasn't really Hermione's style to spy on people, but she hadn't known what they were doing till it was too late. Besides, she wanted to make sure Ginny's matchmaking ideas weren't . . . insane.

Meanwhile Harry wound up back in the boy's dorm within ten minutes. He changed and fell into bed; hoping that tonight he'd get lucky and have a dream about Luna.

**---- ---- ---- ----**

**Current Tunes: -Listening to Kenny Chesney's _Keg in the Closet_-**

**Author's Notes**: Most of the conversation between Harry and Luna was stolen from a RPG I was in once. It was cut down because it would have been too long to just straight-out copy it. I'm also going to use some of that same RP for later in the story.

Professor Mo Wiltra was introduced today. I think I mentioned him last chapter. Not really much on his personality in this one, but as a little "event" happens in his class later between Harry and Draco; I think we'll see more of him.

Next chapter will include a brief interlude with Voldie.

Also, special thanks to Hiss, who has agreed to be my Beta. She didn't beta this chapter, but will start with Chapter Three.


	3. James's Key

**Nargles**

**By Brando**

**  
Dedicated to Katie**

**Disclaimer**: Still not JKR. Still own nothing.

This one is where the drama really picks up.

Again, out of laziness I went ahead and used part of that RP again.

**----**

"Aren't you satisfied yet?" Narcissa Malfoy snapped at one of the young aurors who was tearing her beloved sitting room to pieces. The brown haired youth didn't bother to reply and instead continued to look under the tables and rugs. Growling with frustration, Narcissa threw her arms to her side and exited the room in a hurry. She was downright sick of all these aurors thinking that they could tear this place apart. She was also very disappointed in Lucius, who had obviously become an old buffoon if he was captured this easily.

Months had passed since Lucius Malfoy and many other Death Eaters were arrested and sent to prison at the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries. Narcissa had been losing her patients as the aurors continued to come every week and search Malfoy Manor for anything that may link them to Voldemort. She had complained to everyone from Cornelius Fudge to the aurors themselves; but none of them would listen to her since Dumbledore's respect was back and Fudge was not allowing any mistakes.   
  
Cornelius Fudge had been ruined. Hermione's year long ban on Rita Skeeter writing any stories was over and now she was back at her job at the Daily Prophet. Hermione kept Skeeter on a short leash and had clearly told her that one story that made Harry look bad and she'd be off to Azkaban for being an unregistered animagius. Still, Hermione had no problem with allowed Rita to grill Fudge. And grill him she had. Rita had written her most horrible article ever on how Fudge had wasted almost an entire year that he could have spent fighting Voldemort. The second that article (which contained quotes from Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter) came out, Fudge was asked to resign. He declined the offer to give up his job and despite the many, many howlers he was trying his best to return his favor to the public.

"Aren't you people done yet?" Narcissa barked to a pair of aurors sitting in her reading room going through the books. The aurors – Alastor Moody, who had recently been re-appointed as Head Auror after Dumbledore made the suggestion to fudge; and Nymphadora Tonks – looked up at her.

"No, Mrs. Malfoy, we're not." Moody growled menacingly. "What's the big hurry to get us out of the house? Expecting company? Maybe some of your husband's business friends, eh? Or perhaps your sister I dare wager?"

Narcissa narrowed her dark eyes. "You have no proof that I've ever committed a crime. And I will be suing your department for definition of character because of that, Moody."

"I think she is in a hurry to get rid of us, Mad-Eye." Tonks smirked. "Perhaps we should stay the night."

Moody growled a yes in response. Narcissa's dark eyes became like tiny, furious beads of frozen death as they stared at Tonks. Tonks – who currently had waist-length neon green hair and was twirling it around her finger boredly – stared right back up at her.

"You've been searching my house for months and found nothing. If I have something to hide, which I don't, you're a failure at finding it. Then again your mother was quite the failure as well."

"My mother may have bad taste in names." Tonks shot back. "But if you say that again I'm going to have to jinx you, Auntie."

"That won't be necessary." A high, cold voice said.

Mad-Eye and Tonks, as well as all of the other aurors in the room, turned around and found themselves staring at the doorway from the sitting room. The body of the brown haired auror was on the ground, lifeless and empty. Standing above the body, tall, black and cloaked while his horrible white face and red eyes like slits gleamed in the darkness, was Lord Voldemort.

He held in his hand a black wand and raised his unusually long, white fingers that held it up into the air. A woman with matted black hair and a hallow face stood at his side and held her own wand steady. A small, balding man with a face like a rat and a hand made of silver was on Voldemort's other side.

_"Avada Kedavra_!"

From outside the large, stone castle that was called Malfoy Manor, a flash of green light could be seen in the windows. The sound of running was heard as well as the sound of speeding death. And when all of those sounds had ended, and quiet returned, several black cloaked creatures began gliding up to the house. As they floated over the ground, all the happiness and warmth around them was drained away and nothing but death and chill was left behind in the wake of the army of dementors.

Lord Voldemort's army of dementors.

**----**

It was very odd. Harry was sitting in a booth at the Three Broomsticks, with Luna Lovegood sitting across from him. She was stringing the bottle caps from their butterbeers onto her necklace and Harry was just sitting there watching her, his almond-eyes wide. He enjoyed being around Luna; she made him feel at easy. Sure, so their first real conversation had been a long depressing one about Sirius and Mrs. Lovegood and the Potter's and Voldemort and all of the things that made their lives depressing and miserable; but now it was much more fun. Why, today they had been discussing Quidditch and the easiest way to catch Crumpled-Horned Snorkacks. Okay; so Harry didn't quite believe that Snorkacks were real, but that was okay.   
  
Things were going wonderfully too. This had to be the single greatest date of Harry's life. Sure, he only had one date before it; but this one was much better. Unlike Cho, Luna was actually interested in talking about happy things, and also unlike Cho, Luna looked really cute when Harry made her laugh, which seemed to be all the time. In fact she was laughing at his joke right now. Oh this was a good day to be alive! Luna was laughing at his joke; in another of her loud, long, over-the-top laughs like the kind she had used on the train with Ron. Okay, so most of the people around them were looking as if she was insane, but Harry like the way she laughed. Besides, people already thought they were both unbalanced, so why not be crazy and happy?   
  
"You know Luna; this is the best date of my life. I really like you."   
  
Harry said as he took her hand in his own. Luna was blushing now and staring at him with those wide eyes that made Harry's heart flutter and his cheeks flush. She was smiling and then she was speaking to him. What was it she was saying? She liked him too? And she was having a great time? Yes! Yes this was good! Harry and Luna were both having a great time and they liked each other! It was like a fairy tale, or a dream –   
  
"Harry have you seen Pig? Harry? HARRY!"

Harry's eyes shot open and he found that his blurry vision was currently locked on a redheaded boy above him. Groaning, Harry didn't even both reaching for his glasses before he put a hand on Ron's face and pushed him away. He could hear Ron squeak and tumble to the ground with a thud, followed by quick cursing and angry shouts. Harry groaned and grabbed a pillow, flinging it over his head and trying desperately to block out the sound. Every night Harry dreamed of Voldemort and Bellatrix murdering Ron, Hermione, Luna and Lupin and Ron always made him sleep through that. The one night Harry had a good dream was the night Ron chose to wake him up. The irony was overwhelming.  
  
Sighing and realizing that he would not be able to finish his dream about Luna, Harry sat up and began to rub his eyes. He had been having a good dream for once in his life . . . a dream about Luna. Harry was still groggy from the lack of sleep and it wasn't until he was slipping on his glasses and digging around for some clean pants that he realized _he had been dreaming about dating Luna_.

Harry had suddenly realized that he did, in fact, have a crush on Luna Lovegood. He wasn't going to deny that to himself. Three years ago when he had first played Cho Chang in Quidditch, he had felt a crush on her. Now he had a crush on Luna; and found it was very different. He had liked Cho because she was pretty. That may sound shallow, but it was the truth. The second he'd gotten to know Cho he'd found she wasn't only a witch, but also something that rhymed with witch.

Luna on the other hand was kind, and gentle, and caring, and also very pretty. She was, err, "eccentric", for lack of a better term. Then again he didn't mind that. So what if she tucked her wand behind her ear, and wore a bottle-cap necklace. So what if she had constructed a life-sized Lion's head that actually roared. Harry saw that as creative and constructive; instead of weird and unconventional. Then again, fighting men with two faces, conversing with serpents, and pretty much anything else in Harry's past could be construed as irregular as well. Perhaps they were just two peas in a pod. Two peculiar peas in a pod.

Harry was halfway to his first class – Defense Against the Dark Arts – when he was shaken from his thoughts about Luna by a voice that he, unfortunately, recognized.

"Slow down Potter." Malfoy growled.

Harry turned around and his vivid-green eyes locked on the shapes of Malfoy, Crabbe and Knott. All of them looked downright lethal and it was at this moment that Harry noticed he was alone in the hallway with them and that he was late for class. Since everyone else was in class there was little chance they'd be interrupted and Harry knew right away that Malfoy was gunning for revenge. After all, Goyle was in St. Mungo's because of Harry and Malfoy's reputation had been damaged almost as badly as his broom because of the past two days.

"How many beatings do you fancy for today Draco?" Harry asked in a fake-sweet voice. Malfoy narrowed his eyes.

"You're the one getting the beating, Potter." Malfoy spat in a venomous tone. "Even if you hex one of us the other two will take you out. And I promise you that by the time we're done with you, you'll be with Goyle in St. Mungo's."

"And you'll be with daddy in Azkaban." Harry replied coolly. Malfoy glared like the sun and his wand hand began to shake with rage. Harry was merely buying time until he'd have to find a way out of this. Then again he had once been surrounded by Death Eaters and being dueled against by Voldemort himself and he found a way out; so Draco Malfoy was just a small fish in a big pond of people who wanted Harry in pain.

"Let's curse him and get it over with." Theodore Knott complained, aiming his wand much steadier than Draco. Harry remembered his encounter with Mr. Knott last year at the Department of Mysteries and he was sure that Theodore, like Draco, was doing this more for his father than for the oaf Goyle.

"Sure." Harry responded. He went for his wand and Malfoy began to hiss a spell, but at that moment a shape appeared between them and all four of the boys stopped. Professor Wiltra had stepped between them and his beady eyes were looking from the Slytherin Trio to Harry. Then he cleared his throat.

"You're late for my class. Ten points from each of you, and I will speak to Professors McGonnigal and Snape about this."

Wiltra then turned and hurried Harry and the Slytherins into his class. As soon as Harry was pushed into the classroom he made his way over to his seat (which was located in the middle of the room, with Ron at his right, Hermione at his left, Dean in front of him and Pavarti behind him). He turned his eyes up to the board where the words "Elevated Risk Spells" were written. Then he looked up at Wiltra who was leaning a gloved hand on his desk. His eyes then moved over to Malfoy, who was glaring at him dangerously from the corner.

"Now as I was saying." He continued his lecture from before. "ERS or Elevated Risk Spells; are some of the most dangerous spells taught to wizard kind. They are all designed for simple, everyday purposes; however because of their possibility to become lethal if used incorrectly, the Ministry did not want you learning them until now. Today we shall learn the burning spell, _Exussum Nunc._

However as soon as Professor Wiltra had said these words and reached waved his wand so that a large square of chalk would write it on the blackboard behind him; Hermione raised her hand with a outright confused expression printed on her face.

"Yes Miss. Granger?" The Professor asked.

"Professor, shouldn't we be taught _Extermino Nunc_, the spell for poisoning house-hold pests like rats, first? The book recommends it. Page 211, I believe."

Professor Wiltra blinked, Ron muttered something that sounded oddly like 'know-it-all', and Harry; who wasn't paying attention, merely sat there thinking about the next time Malfoy would jump him. A moment later Professor Wiltra opened the large leather-bound spell book on his desk and began flipping through pages.

"Yes, well." Professor Wiltra said, a slight blush creeping onto his face and a nervous sweat glistening on his bald brow. "H-however." He continued, obviously very flustered that he had been caught in a mistake. "I see no reason to teach it to you. We'll proceed with the lesson I had planned then."

Hermione quirked a brow from Harry's left and Ron began to absently twirl a quill in his hands as boredom overwhelmed him. Harry however wasn't paying much attention as Wiltra continued his lesson on burning ERSs. Instead of listening to the teacher's comments on the various charms and hexes, Harry was thinking about the dream he'd had about Luna and Himself. He found his eyelids growing heavy and, remembering the good dream from before, Harry didn't even try to give up. Instead he set his head down on the desk and allowed sleep to wash over his body.

Harry found that he was no longer sitting in Professor Wiltra's class. Now he was sitting in a large wooden chair with a red silk back. Harry was wearing long black robes and he was looking down at a letter, reading it boredly as his long white fingers tapped the desk impatiently. Suddenly a door opened and a pair of women appeared. One was tall and slender and dressed in the finest clothing money could buy. Her blonde hair was falling around her head gracefully and she struck him as a figure from the Victorian age. The second woman was shorter and thinner and much paler. Her hair was black and while it was obviously been washed and cut it still had a permanent look of tangled weaves.

"My lord." Bellatrix Lestrange hissed at Harry. "I pursued the aurors Moody and Tonks as far as I could; but they have escaped."

"That is unacceptable, Bella." Harry – or at least the person whose eyes Harry was seeing through -- hissed. Voldemort flicked his eyes upward at Bellatrix. "Explain."

"They were aided by the werewolf Lupin!" Bellatrix attempted to explain as fear crept into her voice. "We were outmatched!"

"No Bella." Harry heard his vessel's voice repeat. "You had the dementors."

Bellatrix fell to her knees. "Lupin used a Patronus! They fled my lord! I was over powered! However I still have others after them; we will catch them I swear my lord—"

Harry could hear Voldemort's disappointed sigh. He could feel Voldemort's hand raise the wand and he could see the frightful terror that danced in Bellatrix's eyes. Maybe it was from being inside Voldemort's mind; or maybe it was because the woman had killed Sirius, but Harry was enjoying that look of fear.

"_Crucio!_"

Harry could hear the cries of pain. He could see Bellatrix as she writhed on the ground. And then the world began to swirl around him. He was waking up. His mind was returning and he realized he had been dreaming and seeing through Voldemort's eyes once again as he had many times in the past. When he looked up he found someone was shouting at him.

"Potter! Potter wake up you!"  
  
Harry let out a small gasp. Malfoy was standing about a foot from Harry's desk. The Slytherins had lined up behind him and all of the Gryffindors were behind Harry; except for Ron and Hermione who stood at his sides. The Professor was no where to be found. Harry was so preoccupied with his dream and seeing Voldemort's plans and hearing of Mad-Eye and Tonks that he didn't have time for this.

"Wiltra was called to the Headmaster's Office." Malfoy smirked. "Now we're going to finish this. I would have hexed you when you were asleep, but I'd much rather embarrass you this way."

Harry shook his head. "Now isn't the time."

Malfoy glared. "You're not backing out from this Potter; not again—"

Harry's eyes fell on the ESP on the board for burning. He decided he didn't have time to waste on Malfoy and raised his wand. He'd never used the spell before and slept right through Wiltra's demonstration, so he had no clue what to expect. "_Exussum Nunc!"_

A jet of flames shot from the end of Harry's wand. Draco let out a loud, girlish scream as they covered him and Crabbe and Knott behind him. Blaise Zabini's shirt was ignited and Daphne Greengrass beside her shrieked as her hair caught flames. Malfoy was screaming the loudest.

Then the flames vanished all at once. All of the Slytherins who had been lit up seconds ago fell to their knees panting. Malfoy's body was covered in burns and he was whimpering and crying. Harry's vivid-green eyes moved over to where Wiltra and Dumbledore stood in the doorway. Wiltra opened his mouth but Dumbledore instead ordered him to find Madam Pompfrey before he commanded Harry to follow him.

When they were alone in the hallway on their way back to Dumbledore's office, Harry broke into speech right away. "Professor I saw Voldemort in my dream again! Mad-Eye and Tonks are in danger, he sent dementors after them and –"

"Yes, I am aware." Dumbledore nodded as he continued to walk down the halls. They were nearing his office now and Harry was thoroughly confused at the idea that Dumbledore knew this was going on. Dumbledore knew about what happened? What did that mean?

"You know?" Harry asked.

"Last night, Lord Voldemort and his minions attacked the Auror group assigned to search Malfoy Manor." Dumbledore explained. "Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks were able to escape; however they were hunted by dementors and Bellatrix Lestrange. As I understand it they spent the night in the woods and were found by Remus Lupin this morning. Lupin was able to help them escape; I don't think I have to tell you he's good with the Patronus Charm."

They didn't speak another word until they were in Dumbledore's office. Harry was so swept over with relief that Bellatrix had failed to catch them. Dumbledore took his usual seat and Harry sat down in an armchair in front of his desk. On the edge of the desk was a silver vase-like object that seemed to be emitting strange noises. Harry looked at it for a second before turning up to Dumbledore.

Harry sunk back into the chair with a soft sigh. He had been worried the Order had lost two of its members. Yes, he had heard Bellatrix say that they had escaped; but it was much more comforting to hear it from Albus Dumbledore. Harry then looked back up at him.

"Sir? What happened to Voldemort?"

Dumbledore blinked. "He is still at Malfoy Manor, I believe."

Harry was dumbfounded. "If we know where he's at –"

"There are over one thousand Dementors." Dumbledore said in a warning voice. "I assure you, both the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic are preparing a joint-assault. However Harry I must remind you that you are a student."

Harry shook his head. "Sir, you know the prophecy!"

"Indeed." Dumbledore replied. "And you know that at this time you cannot kill Voldemort. Harry I think it would be best for all of us if you stayed in school. And I also believe it wise if you do as I commanded you earlier and stop using dangerous spells on your fellow students."

Harry opened his mouth to complain but Dumbledore shook his head. "Harry, do you trust me?"

Harry nodded. "Of course I do Professor."

Dumbledore's aged face cracked into a smile beneath the silvery beard. "Then trust that I know what I mean. If I'm not very much mistaken, you will find a way to help us. You always do."

"Professor what do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Nothing at all." Dumbledore responded. "Now have a lemon drop, Harry."

Harry was a bit surprised by this. He looked over on the large desk and found a small bowl of Lemon Drops sitting on the edge. He took one and then he sat back. While he'd much rather be involved in fighting Voldemort openly, Dumbledore was right about one thing. For five years Harry had stayed at Hogwarts and for five years he'd wound up helping the Anti-Voldemort supporters in some way. Harry then looked up at the Headmaster.

"Professor? I, err. Well, it just seems like every year you have all the answers. I always kinda thought you know more about what is happening than you let on."

Dumbledore sat back in is chair. "I have no idea what you're talking about." And while this was his reply, Harry caught the brief twinkle in his eyes. Perhaps Dumbledore had some plan for Harry yet. Harry wasn't sure. He was sure that the last time he'd gone off on his own it had resulted in Sirius Black's death; so he had no intention of dashing off to Malfoy Manor for a duel with the devil.

After finishing his lemon drop, Harry stood and turned to leave the Headmaster's office, but as he did knocked over the silver vase, which shattered on the ground. Harry apologized but Dumbledore looked rather amused. "Clean it up Harry. I shall go check on Mr. Malfoy's burns. You may return to your next class when you are finished. Although I think I must double your detention sentence."

Harry nodded and began to clean up the debris. Then his eyes fell on a small gold box that had come out of the vase. It had fallen open and a key and a old scrap of parchment had fallen out. Harry picked it up and looked around for Dumbledore, but he couldn't find it. Harry returned the key, which was gold with a red jewel at the top, to the box and was about to return the small note when he noticed a name on it.

Sirius.

Harry quickly read the note through three times.

_Sirius,_

_Here's the key. Don't lose it._

_I don't have to tell you how important this key is._

_Do me a favor, Padfoot. Make sure you don't forget where you hid it. Like you did with the pencils we used for the map? _

_  
I want to pass this on to my kid someday . . ._

_Anyway, meet you in the Shrieking Shack later. _

_- Prongs_

As Harry read the note he felt something. This note. This peace of paper had been written by his father. By James Potter. He read it through and realized that this paper was written by James Potter and given to Sirius Black. And that line in there about passing this key onto his kid someday. Harry didn't know what this key was for or why his dad had thought it so important, but he did know he was not giving it back to Dumbledore. It would probably be wise to ask Dumbledore what the key was for; but Dumbledore may not let him keep it that way. And James Potter had clearly written that he wanted his kid to have this key.

Harry slipped the note inside the gold box that contained the key and he pocketed it. He then continued gathering up the broken shards of the vase.

"Still here Harry?"

Harry looked up to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway. He wondered if Dumbledore had seen him pocket the key, but Dumbledore's face was completely unreadable. The headmaster waved his wand and the shards of the vase vanished.

"Run along Harry. You're late for Professor McGonnigal's class."

"Yes sir."

**---- ---- ---- ----**

**Current Tunes: -Listening to Jimmy Buffett, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and George Strait sing the Hank Williams classic _Hey Good Lookin' (What'cha Got Cookin'?)_-**

**Author's Notes**: This one wasn't as romantically driven, but **very** important.   
  
Next chapter will be about Luna.


End file.
